Archive for the ‘Pharisee’ Category

January 3, 2010 – New York – Rabbi David Rosen, AJC’s International Director of Interreligious Affairs, has been awarded the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in her prestigious New Years honors list.

The CBE, one of Great Britain’s highest honors, was given to Rabbi Rosen in recognition of his interfaith relations work in the Middle East, and between the UK and Israel. He is the first Orthodox rabbi to receive the CBE.

“I feel very honored,” said the British-born Rabbi Rosen from his home in Jerusalem. “It’s not just a personal tribute but to all those before me and with me who work to promote a better world through deeper understanding and cooperation between religions.”

In addition to his role at AJC, where he also serves as Director of the Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding, Rabbi Rosen is an Honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. He also was a member of the permanent Bilateral Commission of the State of Israel and the Holy See that established bilateral relations between Israel and the Vatican.

In November 2005, Rabbi Rosen was named by Pope Benedict XVI a Papal Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great for his outstanding contributions to promoting Catholic-Jewish reconciliation. It was the first time this Vatican honor was given to an Orthodox rabbi.

“All of us at AJC are delighted that the Queen has recognized Rabbi Rosen’s achievements in advancing international interfaith understanding,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “Wherever Rabbi Rosen travels, and he does so extensively, he engages those who aspire to a world where religion is seen as a force for good, not evil.”

Among his other path-breaking interreligious initiatives on behalf of AJC, last year Rabbi Rosen hosted at AJC headquarters in New York a major international Hindu-Jewish Summit, further deepening ties between the two faith groups. He also was key to the first visit to Israel, in 2007, of Muslim leadership from India.